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Post by Daniel Leviner on Feb 11, 2011 10:03:03 GMT -5
Daniel was just about to respond to Victoria when Rutger came up. For a split he was annoyed with the auror just coming up and interrupting his conversation with Victoria. He looked from Rutger to Victoria and gave her an apologetic look before turning back to the auror. "Hey, I'm ready," he said standing up.
He moved around his desk to stand beside Victoria. "Thanks sweetheart," he said giving her the teasing look he usually gave her. "I'll let you know what happens whenever I get back." Daniel let a soft smirk cross his face as he looked at her then let it fade when he looked back to Rutger.
"Let's get going before we lose any more time."
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Post by Rutger Kilborn on Feb 11, 2011 19:41:21 GMT -5
Rutger hadn't meant to be rude. He hadn't even noticed the girl talking to Daniel; as always he had been totally focused on his goal, which at that moment had been finding Daniel and getting to Hogwarts.
He turned and gave an apologetic nod in the girl's direction, but he didn't know what to say. He didn't have time to talk with the girl, and he hoped that Daniel wouldn't insist on introducing her or anything. Time was of the essence right now, and the last thing he needed was to get sucked into a conversation where everyone else did all the talking. The girl looked like a talker.
Looking back at Daniel, he nodded briskly. "Lead the way."
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Post by Victoria Bennett on Feb 13, 2011 1:51:10 GMT -5
And just like that, she was dimissed. The auror barely acknowledged her, and if not for Daniel's attempt to smooth things over, Victoria would have really been put out. So typical of Daniel to go and be nice to her, and yet still patronize her by calling her Sweetheart at the same time. It made things very confusing, because she couldn't quite decide whether she liked the guy or hated him. He was so full of contradictions.
They were trying to catch a murderer, she reminded herself. It was a dangerous mission, and an important one. She didn't have the right to be insulted about being ignored or even to hate Daniel for calling her sweetheart.
And she needed to focus on Sean. She wondered, should she try and look for him? Would he have left the Ministry? Where would he have gone? And would he be back here? She frowned to herself. If she knew more about him, maybe she'd have an idea where to look...
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Feb 15, 2011 0:21:56 GMT -5
Daniel gave Victoria one last look and then he turned back to Rutger and started toward the exit. "The floo network is not far from here," he said starting to walk faster. He knew the importance of this first step in order to make sure that everyone inside Hogwarts was going to be safe.
Reaching the floo area, Daniel stopped at an open fire place. "When you get ready to step in and go, say Albus Dumbledore's office," he said firmly. He stepped into the fireplace and as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he was gone.
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Post by Rutger Kilborn on Feb 15, 2011 0:29:50 GMT -5
Rutger watched as Daniel vanished from sight, then stepped into another fireplace. He stood there a moment with a handful of floo powder, hesitating. It felt so wrong to be doing this without Alana, and he cast an eye over toward the direction of the auror office, half-hoping she would appear. But of course she didn't, and time really was of the essence, so he couldn't really linger any longer. He sighed, then said the words clearly as he dropped the floo powder.
He felt the fast spinning sensation as he traveled through the floo network and came to a stop inside Albus Dumbledore's fireplace.
He stepped out and dusted himself off, then looked to Daniel for an introduction.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Feb 15, 2011 1:01:13 GMT -5
Daniel did expect Rutger to follow him right off, and when it took Rutger a few seconds longer to get there after he had already stepped out and brushed himself off, Daniel had to fight a comment that he could have said. After all, he was with Dumbledore. He had great respect for the man and knew that he could count on the man for just about anything.
"Rutger, this is Albus Dumbledore," he said motioning to the man in front of him. It still felt strange calling Dumbledore by his first name. "Rutger was the auror I mentioned in the owl a few moments ago."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 15, 2011 11:56:02 GMT -5
Sean had gone off, walked off some of the headache while the potion worked its magic, so to speak. Sean was wound really tight right then, and he made sure he stayed out of the way while Daniel and Rutger left. They would come back for him tonight- Daniel knew Sean would demand to be a part of this. As much as he hated to admit it.... they needed him. Or they might, anyway.
It was a good twenty minutes before he came back into the office, coffee in hand, and he sat at his desk, opening one of the drawers and levetating the letter from Pavel out of his drawer.
He looked over his shoulder and noticed a blond girl. Meeting her eyes briefly, he gave her a nod, wishing the office was empty.
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Post by Victoria Bennett on Feb 16, 2011 1:40:20 GMT -5
Victoria had kept her eyes trained on the door after Daniel and the auror left, watching for Sean to return. She still wasn't happy about having to "keep an eye on" him, especially since they had not actually been introduced. But what was she supposed to do? She had no assignments of her own and she was supposed to be shadowing Daniel. And Daniel told her to look out for Sean.
When he came back in, she wasn't exactly subtle. She followed his movements and turned around to watch him as he sat down. He caught her looking at him, and nodded in her direction... which probably should have been her cue to leave him alone. She sighed to herself. She felt like a stalker.
She hesitated for a moment, then got up and walked over to him. "Hi," she greeted him, holding out her hand to him. "I'm Victoria. I'm supposed to be shadowing your brother, but he had to go off to a meeting.... I guess you knew that. And he couldn't bring me along... so, um, maybe I could just help you out? What are you working on? Is there anything I could help you with?"
Yeah, that sounded reasonable. It gave her an excuse to be with him, so keeping an eye on him wouldn't be so complicated. Of course... if he said no, she'd have to think fast....
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Post by Rutger Kilborn on Feb 16, 2011 18:02:05 GMT -5
Although Rutger was often uncomfortable in social situations, he usually felt at ease when he was working. It was easier to concentrate on work; it was logical and clear. He wasn't usually intimidated by anyone when he was working. But Albus Dumbledore wasn't just anyone.
Albus Dumbledore was well-known, even in Germany. He had defeated the dark wizard Grindelwald, and was possibly the most famous wizard alive. It would be difficult not to be a little intimidated by this man.
Rutger moved forward and held his hand out to the great wizard. "It's an honor... sir." Was that the proper way to address the man? He couldn't very well call him Albus, and Mr. Dumbledore seemed wrong. And to call him Professor seemed odd as well, since he had never attended Hogwarts. "Rutger Kilborn. We.... ah... we were hoping you could help us catch a murderer."
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Post by Albus Dumbledore on Feb 16, 2011 18:25:32 GMT -5
Albus smiled warmly, waving off the "sir" before he shook hands with the auror. Albus considered himself to be a pretty good judge of character and he liked the man immediately. He was soft-spoken, with his German accent only slightly detectable, as though he had trained himself out of it years ago. Albus got a sense of a man who believed in honor and justice, who believed heartily in what he was doing.
"Please, call me Albus," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rutger. And good to see you again, Daniel. Please give my regards to your brother."
He stepped back and moved toward his desk. "Have a seat, both of you. I'll be glad to help you in any way that I can... Please tell me what you need."
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Feb 16, 2011 18:59:37 GMT -5
Growing up, Daniel had been to see Dumbledore plenty of times. Sometimes it wasn't when he got in trouble, but sometimes if he was thinking about it. He had never been able to figure it out, but Dumbledore always knew when something was going on. There was always that knowing twinkle in the man's eyes and Daniel always wondered how he knew.
He still felt that he couldn't call Dumbledore by his first name. Maybe it was just because he went to school there and had always called him Professor Dumbledore. When he spoke about Sean, Daniel wondered again if there was an underlying meaning in his words, but he didn't dwell on that.
Daniel took a seat as he was told. "Do you know which adults at the school would be at risk of Kryshna coming after them? Maybe someone who betrayed Voldemort, or maybe someone who deals a great deal with muggles? That is the type of person that she is coming after. If we know that, we could make complete certain that they will not be on her list anymore if we can capture her here since we have a step ahead of her this time."
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Post by Rutger Kilborn on Feb 16, 2011 19:28:18 GMT -5
Rutger similarly felt that he could not call Dumbledore by his first name, but he bypassed the subject for now. Instead, he followed up Daniel's question with some more explanation.
"In particular, do you perhaps know of someone on your staff who might have once worked for Lord Voldemort? We have reason to believe that Kryshna may be after a former death eater--possibly two--who works at the school. And we think she will attack tonight."
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Post by Albus Dumbledore on Feb 16, 2011 19:39:06 GMT -5
Even before Rutger's explanation, two names immediately came to mind for Albus. There were two staff members who were already known to be on Voldemort's list, and who, in fact, had already been targeted once before. When Rutger spoke, Dumbledore nodded immediately.
"Yes, there are two people here who fit that description, and I would not be at all surprised if Lord Voldemort had put a contract out on them through this Kryshna you speak of."
He paused, tapping a piece of parchment with his wand. Then he got up and walked over to the perch of his Fawkes the Phoenix. He gave the parchment to the bird and watched as he vanished in a flame.
"You are speaking of the Rothschilds. Two former death eaters who switched sides after they fell in love. Isabella Rothschild teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Voltaire teaches dueling. I've summoned them both here, so you may speak with them in person."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 18, 2011 23:05:01 GMT -5
Sean was a little surprised at the girl when she stepped up to his desk, and his eyebrows went up as she continued to speak.
Unfortunately for her, Sean knew his brother quite well, and had he been operating on all four cylanders, as the muggles said, he would have caught on to what she was doing instantly.
But she had something going for her today- Sean was run ragged, and he didn't quite catch onto the things he normally should have. So she was safe, for now. Either way, Sean needed a little privacy to actually work.
He glanced at her hand, but refrained from shaking it, hoping she would forgive him for the seemingly rude behavior. "Nice to meet you, Victoria," he said as gently and as warmly as humanly possible, and he gave her a tired, albeit genuine smile to accentuate his words. "And thank you for asking, but I'm afraid I'm fine and don't need any help. I'll let you know, though."
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Post by Victoria Bennett on Feb 19, 2011 0:23:20 GMT -5
Victoria frowned. This wasn't exactly what she had hoped to hear, although she had rather expected it. It would have been easier to keep an eye on him if she could help him at the same time, and she wouldn't look so suspicious. But shye had to do what Daniel had told her to do, because what else did she have to do?
"Are you sure?" she said almost desperately. "I mean... I don't have anything to do. At all. I could... do research? Anything... I'm so bored.... I swear I won't get in your way."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 21, 2011 21:37:46 GMT -5
Sean frowned. Did his brother leave the girl behind to distract him from forcing a vision?
Suddenly, realization hit him and he raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I see. Dan told you to shadow me, didn't he?" Again, it was unfortunate for the girl that Sean knew his brother so well. "Of course he did. Well, I let you off the hook. Surely gthere are other things you would rather be doing."
His tone was gentle, and he wasn't being rude, or at least, he hoped not.
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Post by Victoria Bennett on Feb 22, 2011 23:52:39 GMT -5
Damn. He was onto her. And she thought she'd been being so subtle; after all, everything she had said was true. Daniel had ditched her for this meeting, she didn't have anything to do, and she genuinely wanted to help him. She just left out that one little key detail. But apparently, she wasn't as clever as she would have hoped.
"Was I that obvious?" she asked, her lips twisted into a sardonic expression. She sighed. "Look. OK... Daniel did ask me to keep any eye on you while he's gone. I'm supposed to be shadowing him, and he left for this meeting and couldn't take me... it's my first day, you see... and I don't have anything else to do. I don't want to get in your way or anything, but if I don't help you or watch you, I don't have much else to do but read the boring memos from the Minister about dress code and security."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 23, 2011 15:56:52 GMT -5
"No, no. You were subtle and fine. My brother's the one whose transparent as a window, and he's not even here." Sean smiled at her, shrugging. He couldn't help it that he knew Daniel better than even Daniel did, sometimes.
"I just really need some quiet for this... but you know, there is something I can probably set you to work on. I'm looking for an old ammunitions warehouse... it would be in a muggle district, but the only ones I know of are by the river and I know this one isn't near water. Would you be interested in looking for it, maybe? Just get me a list of any that you can find?" That's where Danica would be hiding, and he tilted his head.
"A little girl was kidnapped... and she'd be there."
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Post by Victoria Bennett on Feb 23, 2011 19:57:55 GMT -5
Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. This was something she could do, and she wouldn't feel so stupid and useless. Sean clearly didn't want a babysitter--and she could hardly blame him for that--but at least there was something useful she could do. She knew where the research room was, and she knew that there were lots of maps and directories of magical and muggle areas of London and the surrounding areas.
She almost smiled at him, until he added that last part. Kidnapped little girls were nothing to smile about. Immediately she ached for the girl's family, and for the child as well.
Instead, she nodded seriously. "I can do that," she replied. "And--I hope you find her." She gave him a smile then, sort of a sympathetic smile. He did look like he needed to rest, and she understood why Daniel was worried about him. But the case was important, and clearly he wanted to focus on that. She had a feeling Daniel was much the same way, and it increased her admiration for him. Grudgingly, of course.
"Good luck," she said, then turned and left for the research room.
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Post by Daniel Leviner on Feb 24, 2011 0:27:12 GMT -5
For a moment, it dawned on Daniel how ironic it was for two former deatheaters, who wanted to get rid of the muggles, half-bloods, and blood traitors, so that the pure bloods, could fall in love and that be the simplest thing that changed their whole outlook. That thought made him think of his parents. Granted they were obviously not deatheaters, but the concept of love was still there.
Daniel cleared his mind. It wasn't the time or the place to ponder over something like that. "Thanks Dumbledore," he said once Fawkes was in the air. "Catching Kryshna here is really our only hope at the moment. For once, we're a few steps ahead of her. We really do appreciate your help."
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